What is Wellness and Why Should Organizations Care?

What is Wellness and Why Should Organizations Care?

The terms “wellness” and “well-being” are often used interchangeably; however, at Prospera Consulting Group (and in line with current research), we have intentionally conceptualized the two terms as interrelated yet separate constructs. Wellness represents different puzzle pieces that combine to form a person’s health. Well-being reflects a person’s perception and overall satisfaction with the puzzle’s current state and potential future state. Both wellness and well-being are important organizational considerations.

Wellness has a variety of dimensions. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) wellness includes eight distinct dimensions: emotional wellness, spiritual wellness, intellectual wellness, physical wellness, environmental wellness, financial wellness, occupational wellness, and social wellness. These eight dimensions were adopted through the merging of several models (e.g., Swarbrick, 2006; National Wellness Institute, 2020). When considering holistic wellness, every dimension of wellness must be present in order for an employee/person to thrive. 

For example, a collegiate athlete’s physical and intellectual wellness is necessary for their success on the field because their bodies must be fit and healthy, and they must feel they have a deep understanding of the game to perform at the highest level. Their social wellness is tied to their relationships with others and may be tied to their feeling of belongingness on the team and at the university. Being a college athlete also has components of employment; therefore financial and occupational wellness are important to their health because financial security, as well as genuine enjoyment of their sport (i.e., occupational wellness), influences their overall wellness. Spiritual wellness reflects an individual’s sense of purpose, which is necessary to thrive in both sport and in life. Finally, environmental and emotional wellness are important for the health of college athletes. Thinking back to last month’s blog about coach abuse, coaches that create environments of fear and pressure can negatively influence an athlete’s environmental wellness, while coaches that target an individual's mental health can influence an athlete’s emotional wellness. 

Wellness versus Well-being

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC, 2018), there is no consensus on a single definition of well-being. Instead, there is a general agreement that “well-being includes the presence of positive emotions and moods (e.g., contentment, happiness), the absence of negative emotions (e.g., depression, anxiety), [and] satisfaction with life, fulfillment and positive functioning” (section 4). The CDC (2018) also explained, “well-being is a positive outcome that is meaningful for people…it tells us that people perceive that their lives are going well” (section 1). We know, too, that well-being is associated with many benefits related to physical health, family, jobs, and mental health, to name a few. It is worth noting that while we do not have a clear definition, we have been measuring well-being for many years with a variety of instruments (e.g., Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS)). In these scenarios, well-being has been measured using the concepts of life satisfaction, positive affect, and psychological well-being. 

A useful framing of “well-being” is: “a state of positive feelings and meeting full potential in the world. It can be measured subjectively and objectively, using a salutogenic approach.” A salutogenic approach simply means that health is not just an absence of disease but a result of continuous everyday life interactions between an individual and their inevitable social, economic, cultural, physical, mental, and biochemical stressors. (Allamano, 2023, para. 11)

According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), wellness seems to be more of an overarching construct, which includes the aforementioned definitions of well-being. Anecdotally, well-being seems to have more of an emotional focus. In other words, well-being encompasses how one experiences and feels about the various dimensions of their wellness. 

Prospera Consulting Group understands “wellness” as the broader, holistic health of an individual. This includes the eight dimensions of wellness (i.e., emotional, spiritual, intellectual, physical, environmental, financial, occupational, and social). “Well-being,” on the other hand, focuses more specifically on an individual's state of being well. For example, an individual may participate in a wellness seminar to improve their well-being. 

Why should organizations care?

Research demonstrates the clear connection between employee well-being and organizational outcomes. These outcomes include productivity and profit (Allamono, 2023). John Foster, an organizational design expert, said, “Well-being is not something ‘extra’ to tag onto a work situation, it’s an essential component of productivity for organizations to consider” (Allamono, 2023, para 23). Therefore, organizations should take the eight dimensions of wellness into consideration when intentionally curating their workplace cultures to support employee well-being. The repercussions of negating employee well-being are evident in employee burnout, employee turnover, absenteeism and/or lack of engagement and productivity. Gallup reported that less than 50% of employees in the United States believe their employers care about their well-being. Additionally, many times we conceptualize employee well-being as having a balance between work and rest. Rather, the quality of the workplace experience is paramount as it impacts employee wellbeing at a rate of 2.5 to 3 times over and above workload (Pendell, 2022). Therefore, employee well-being is a clear area of opportunity for most organizations, and curating an organizational culture that values the 8 dimensions of wellness is an excellent starting point. 

References

Allamano, C. B. (2023, Apr 24). What the workplace needs right now: A paradigm shift in thinking around wellbeing and sustainability. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/carabrennanallamano/2023/04/24/what-the-workplace-needs-right-now-a-paradigm-shift-in-thinking-about-wellbeing-and-sustainability/?sh=377326f213b5

Center for Disease Control. (2018, October). Well-being concepts. Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL). https://www.cdc.gov/hrqol/wellbeing.htm#eight

National Institute of Health. (2018, October). Wellness and well-being. National center for complementary and integrative health. https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/wellness-and-well-being.

National Wellness Institute. (2020). Multicultural competency in wellness. https://nationalwellness.org/resources/multicultural-competency-in-wellness/

National Wellness Institute. (2020). The six dimensions of wellness. https://nationalwellness.org/resources/six-dimensions-of-wellness/

Pendell, R. (2022, July 20). Employee wellbeing starts at work. Gallup. https://www.gallup.com/workplace/394871/employee-wellbeing-starts-work.aspx

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2016). Creating a healthier life: A step-by-step guide to wellness. https://store.samhsa.gov/product/Creating-a-Healthier-Life/SMA16-4958

Swarbrick, M. (2006, Spring). A wellness approach. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 29(4). 311-314.